Jobless Claims Up by 8,000; Help-Wanted Index Was Unchanged in Sep.
In
the week ending Oct. 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted
initial jobless claims increased 8,000 to 308,000, according
to the U.S. Department of Labor. The advance seasonally adjusted
insured unemployment rate was 1.9% for the week ending Oct.14, unchanged
from the prior week's rate of 1.9%.
Help-Wanted Advertising Index:
The Conference Board Help-Wanted Advertising Index — a key measure of job offerings in major newspapers across America — was unchanged in September. The Index currently stands at 30. It was 37 one year ago.
In the last three months, help-wanted advertising declined in all nine U.S. regions. Steepest declines occurred in the West South Central (-17.5%), South Atlantic (-14.6%), and West North Central (-13.7%) regions.
Online Job Ads
New online job ads dropped 5% in September to 2,459,191, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. There were 1.62 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, compared with 1.71 in August 2006 and 1.55 in July.
